| Artist |
| Splatterpunk |
| Title |
| Channel 83 |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Caustic Records |
| Style |
| EBM |
| Date of review |
| 26th April 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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On my set top box channel 83 is Sky Sports News but, if the cover photo is anything to go by, to F18 (real name Oscar Javierre Paya) Channel 83 is the kind you watch late on a saturday night after the pubs have shut & you haven't pulled or in certain business hotel chains! The cover art as a whole certainly seems to be aiming towards some kind of sex/technology interface (or something) while the music pays a definate homage to the old-skool EBM sound, being typically minimalistic with gruff semi-spoken vocals that resemble Funker Vogt's Jens Kastel in places & lyrics that are phrased like every other new band that's reviving the old-skool sound. The extended duration of certain tracks make for a feel in places that is either pleasingly freeform or in need of tightening up a bit, depending on which track you're listening to & your own personal viewpoint! The splendidly-titled 'The Idiot And The Mechanical Whore', for instance, runs at close on nine minutes &, even with its muscular rhythms & some decent sequencing later on, doesn't really do enough to justify such a long running time. For the most part, it's on the busier, more bite-sized tracks that provide the highlights in the form of such as the punchy opening double header of 'Future Shock' & 'Psychoterminal' where the vocodered voices prove there's still plenty of life left in this well-used electro staple with some uncannily effective samples adding to the fray while 'Renegade Hacker 3.0' benefits from an appropriately raw cyberpunk feel that adds a more individual edge to the album (he'd better hope Florian Schneider never finds out about the 'V2 Schneider' remix, though as Kraftwerk (allegedly) gave David Bowie the cold shoulder for using that track name!). It's this facet that F18 would do well to develop if he wants to be known as anything other than an old skool revivalist & embrace a more individual style that is unmistakeably his own, there are hints throughout the album that that's what he's aiming for & if he can realise this side of his music more fully on future releases then he can really make a name for himself; for now, though, this enjoyable offering will do quite nicely, thanks!
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